The karez
A karez is a tunnel dug by hand into the foot of a mountain. It carries groundwater for miles beneath the desert and surfaces, without pumps, in an orchard. Naal has farmed on karez water for generations. We took our name from it when we started here in 2011, and we keep to its rule: move water slowly, waste none, plant for decades.
We keep to its rule:
Four crops, one estate
The harvest runs from June to December, one crop handing over to the next: grapes first, then dates, chillies and, last of all, the olives.
Terraced vineyards
Warm days build the sugar; cool nights keep the acidity that makes the fruit crisp. Bunches are cut at dawn, chilled within two hours and packed in ventilated cartons. Surplus is dried into golden raisins.
Warm valley floor, beside the karez
Each spring we pollinate every female palm by hand. Bunches are bagged against dust and birds, cut at full ripeness and cured slowly in shade. The fruit stays soft and glossy, with no added sugar.
Open fields beside the karez
Pods ripen fully on the plant, then dry whole on raised beds in the valley sun. Slow drying holds the colour deep red and the heat clean, without the smoke taint of machine drying.
Stony eastern slopes
Thin, stony soil and freezing winter nights keep the trees stressed and the fruit small, dense and oily. Olives reach the press within hours of picking and are milled cold. The oil is green, grassy and peppery.
How the estate works
The valley floor sits at 1,178 metres. Summer days are hot and dry; winter nights fall below freezing. Dates need the heat, vines and olives need the cold, and Naal supplies both in one year. Farming here is older than the records: nearby Sohr Damb was occupied from about 3800 BCE.
Karez water fills storage ponds, then runs through drip lines, so each tree gets a measured ration and nothing is flooded. Prunings and palm fronds return to the soil as compost. Every block is logged by crop, planting year and harvest date, so any bottle or box traces back to a single row.
Every lot is graded by hand in our packhouse, and a labelled sample from each is kept. Olive oil goes to an independent laboratory before release, because extra virgin status depends on free acidity of 0.8 percent or less. A lot that misses its grade is sold as a lower grade, never blended up.
150 people work on the farm, and the same team runs the harvest. There are no seasonal crews. Everyone is on a monthly wage rather than paid by the kilo, so fruit is handled gently.
Where we grow
Naal is an old farming valley of date palms, wheat and barley in Khuzdar district, Balochistan.
300 acres under cultivation, 900 more held in reserve
Milestones
The route
Picked by hand at dawn into baskets of ten kilos or less, before heat bruises the fruit.
Graded on the farm by size, colour and ripeness. Culls go to the press or the dryer.
Each crop takes its own route: cold press, slow cure, sun-drying or rapid chilling.
Sealed in our packhouse. Every pack shows its block number and harvest date.
By road to local distributors today. Karachi port and airport once export orders begin.
Trade
Our crop goes to local distributors today. We want to export, and we are looking for importers, retailers and food makers in the Gulf, East Asia and Europe.
Looking to export to
Your brand on our oil, dates, chilli or raisins, filled and packed in our packhouse.
Volumes and prices agreed before the season, with fixed delivery windows.
Size, moisture and pack format set to your specification, export cartons included.
Buyers are welcome during harvest, June to December. Write ahead and we will arrange a guide.
